Hampshire County Council gets new SOA

IBM to provide system to help cope with demand

Hampshire County Council is responding to increased service demand by improving its service orientated architecture (SOA) software.

IBM’s Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) Software Platform will assist the local government authority deliver enhanced services to citizens, agencies, schools and other organisations across the county.

The five year agreement, will put the County Council in a position to deliver more efficient and more flexible services to over 10,000 service users, as well as schools, the fire service and possibly other partners.

Jos Creese, CIO, Hampshire County Council, said: 'We have chosen a Services Oriented Architecture approach not because it is technologically fashionable, but because we see it as an essential next step in our technology strategy.'

'We need better systems integration so the different services and professions can work more closely together; enhanced business process management so we can respond more effectively to changing needs; improved information management so we can understand those needs better; and sharpened security management so we can do all this safely,' said Creese.

The agreement also covers support from IBM to help establish a Hampshire County Council SOA Centre of Excellence. This will establish best practice, secure the long-term development of a technology platform that can expand flexibly to future changes in requirements, and facilitate sharing of services across the County Council’s service users, staff, suppliers and partners, to drive improved performance and efficiencies.

Hampshire County Council Leader, Councillor Ken Thornber, said: 'We’re facing some very difficult challenges in keeping up with growing demand for our services without matching funds. To meet these challenges, among other things, Hampshire County Council has to be a leader in IT. This agreement places a big responsibility on both the County Council and IBM to make sure that we meet those expectations.'

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